Aeternus

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Template:Epilepsy Warning Template:Infobox Level Aeternus (formerly known as Eternal) is an unverified 2.1/2.2 Extreme Demon mega-collaboration level hosted by Riot and others. It is the third level in a trilogy of hell-themed Top 1 levels hosted by Riot, succeeding Tartarus and Acheron, and is promoted as likely being Riot's final project. Aeternus' gameplay features extremely tight wave sections and near-impossible ship gaps. In line with its predecessors, it features more 2.1 mechanics, such as the red orb and quadruple-speed portal, and a colour scheme of red, purple and predominantly grey.

Aeternus was designed to be nearly humanly impossible and was thus openly hack-verified and published as an open verification for any player to attempt. According to icedcave and ryamu, the level is meant to be verified in the far future, similarly to the unnerfed Silent clubstep, and they are currently disallowing any player changes as they will adjust the level's balancing by themselves.

The world record progress is currently held by dewbbs, who achieved 16% on 17 January 2026 after more than 60,000 attempts.

History

Because Aeternus' development was kept secret, it is unknown when it was first created, though it presumably occurred after Acheron's verification in August 2022. Aeternus was first teased by ryamu and Riot on their YouTube channels on 27 April 2023. On Riot's channel, he explained that the finished level was to be revealed as a surprise. However, he then changed his decision due to the recent exposure of spaceuk, elaborating in the description of the teaser uploaded on his YouTube channel:

Throughout this games history, there have been countless cheaters. I had my own personal experience with Cyclic 7 years ago that was very similar to this entire situation. I know how players like Zoink, Wolvez, Crisis, Doggie and others must feel. Cheaters choose to take shortcuts in hopes of achieving respect, popularity, money, or all of the above. These people erode the community’s trust and morale, and create even more division in an already divided landscape.

People like Space are selfish, they will only confess when their back is against the wall, resistant till the end. After the confession is done, people quickly forgive and forget. This kind of nonchalant attitude towards cheating is why things like this keep happening 10 years on from the game’s release. I hope that with such a monumental exposing of a player who reigned supreme over the community for nearly 2 years, the attitude will finally shift.

That brings me to the reason I'm actually teasing this project. The level is still a few months out, but I wanted to create hope for up and coming top players, and even the current ones. Future generations need someone and something to look forward to; a place to direct all their passion and energy for the game. That’s what has kept the playing community so strong after all this time, and what will continue to do so.

This project will likely be my last in Geometry Dash, and it is intended to inspire all players to shoot for the stars. With enough hard work and dedication, you can achieve anything. This is something I believed in and its what helped me create a name for myself within this community.

If you share this belief and wish to cement yourself in this games history, I hope you choose to pick up this level once it’s released. It won’t be easy, and it will take lots of hard work and dedication, but this is the kind of achievement that will never be forgotten.

The impossible can become possible if you choose to believe.

Following a few decorative and gameplay tweaks, Aeternus was published on 18 March 2024 for open verification.

Verification race

There are no players actively attempting to verify Aeternus, but a handful have made minor progress, such as Trick, MonthmaiClips, and Chill Guy.

Gameplay

Note: If a player's name is italicised, the player has created gameplay in the section featured. If a player's name is underlined, the player has created decoration in the section featured.

• 0-10% (GrenadeofTacos + ryamu + Deadlox + Riot): Aeternus begins with a difficult cube section similar to its predecessors. The first jump is similar to Tartarus and Acheron's. The player must then hit a blue orb from the ground to hit a series of orbs until a blue orb spam. The player then speeds up to double speed halfway through the part. The second half of the part now utilises fake sections and orbs to mislead and confuse the player, exacerbated by the level's blackness, making it difficult to visualise where to head.
• 10-18% (endevvor + icedcave): The drop of the music starts, and the player goes into a brief auto cube sequence before changing into a ship. This ship sequence is brutal due to its claustrophobic, tight gaps and numerous gravity changes. After that, the player enters a series of difficult yet brief game-modes, shifting between a mini-wave consisting of tight slopes lined with thorny hazards and a difficult ship sequence.
• 18-22% (HeroZombie80 + icedcave): This part focuses on orb timings with the ship, along with numerous gravity changes, although this part is brief. This part shares similarities with The Devil, an unverified Extreme Demon by HeroZombie80.
• 22-24% (Deadlox): Next is a difficult wave sequence consisting of numerous spike pillars and gear sawblades designed to make the level feel claustrophobic.
• 24-39% (GD Iris + Cersia): The level fades to black before flashing to the level's colour scheme again. The player must go into a brief cube sequence and hit a black orb to enter a difficult wave sequence consisting of size and gravity changes before entering a cube portal again, which follows similar gameplay as the first one, then followed by an upside-down UFO sequence consisting of spam-clicking to avoid the Clubstep monster's teeth (spikes) from above, the gameplay then changes from spam-click to absurd timings before transitioning to a tough ship sequence inspired by Acheron's ship part. The player must crawl into a spiky tunnel to enter a gravity and mini-portal. Afterwards, they must carefully hit the yellow orb with a precise calculation for the ship's trajectory to avoid the hazards and enter the gravity portals that lead to the next section. The next section follows a normal-sized cube with gameplay similar to the aforementioned cube parts.
• 39-42% (Deadlox + Riot): A normal-speed yet difficult UFO inspired by Azuler's part in Tartarus. This UFO part demands spam-clicking and orb timing while the player must carefully jump across tight spaces, then a mini-ship sequence with more tight gaps.
• 42-47% (Deadlox): The player then enters a difficult swing-copter ball sequence, loosely inspired by Salaxium's part in Tartarus as well. The swing-copter switches from a ball to a cube halfway through the part.
• 47-52% (Aquatias + ewop + ryamu): The player then slides down via slope to enter a difficult cube section consisting of horrendous orb timings, particularly orb with a spike above them, along with fixed hitboxes to add salt to the wound. The section then goes into a brief mini-ball sequence. The player must hit the last yellow orb to proceed to the next part.
• 52-56% (Vermillion + ryamu): The next segment is an extremely difficult mini-ship sequence which gradually changes speed, designed to throw the player off to the hazards. There are numerous unnaturally lined spikes, along with various gravity changes.
• 56-60% (pluff + ryamu): A tough wave segment consisting of very tight slopes along with size and gravity changes.
• 60-66% (maxfs + pluff + Haunter): The drop of the song concludes, then the player enters a cube section consisting of fake orbs and paths to mislead the player. The player must hit the last two green orbs and a pink orb to enter a challenging yet brief ship sequence in this part. The player then traverses an exceptionally tight, spiky tunnel.
• 66-81% (pluff + Deadlox): The music then hits the drop again, where the player enters a difficult ball sequence, albeit having a simple timing gameplay, followed by a mini-ship sequence consisting of traversing through the tight, hazardous tunnels to hit the orbs and gravity portals, the player then must hit one last green orb to enter a difficult wave part, then followed by a UFO sequence emphasising timings along with spam-clicking, halfway through the UFO sequence, it now utilises orb timings then the player must go into a ship sequence where the player must carefully manouevre the ship due to the fake orbs and tight gaps. Afterwards, the player changes gravity and is launched by the slope downwards for a smoother gameplay transition; the player then must perform one last straight-fly section before entering a brief cube sequence, followed by a challenging wave sequence. The player then enters a cube sequence. One must click the green orb aligned with the cube portal to enter the next section.
• 81-95% (pluff + icedcave): The following section is a cube sequence in which the player must perform simple yet difficult cube jumps along with hitting the orbs with precise timings to enter a brief yet difficult UFO sequence, followed by another brief cube and straight-fly section. Afterwards, the player goes into a brief mini-cube sequence. The player must enter two gravity portals while clicking the orb on the centre of the portals to avoid hitting the teeth of a small Clubstep monster between the portals. The player then must click three orbs in succession to enter a brutally difficult wave sequence. The gameplay then enters a brief auto cube sequence before returning to a challenging wave sequence.
• 95-100% (Burgadahz + icedcave): Unlike Tartarus and Acheron, Aeternus' ending utilises a ship sequence instead of the usual wave and ball timings designed to incite the player into extreme nervousness to choke at the last part. This part contains very tight tunnels, demanding careful traversal within the unforgiving gaps of the level. Afterwards, the player must perform one last straight-fly with two fixed hitboxes on the last spikes before the level ends with a 'GG' as the level fades to black, leaving only the 'GG' sign with a faint red colour and a pentagram symbol on top of it.

Walkthrough

File:-2.2 UPDATE- AETERNUS - RELEASE-2

Trivia

• The level's name, Aeternus, originates from the Latin translation of the word 'Eternal'.
  • Aeternus also shares its name with a Norwegian death metal band.
• Aeternus is the only level in the trilogy that does not use a song composed by DJ-Nate.
  • The song used is a track from the Doom (2016) OST composed by Mick Gordon.
  • Aeternus is also the only level in the trilogy not named after a location from Greek mythology.
• HeroZombie80's decoration originally covered the entire 10-18% of Aeternus; however, it was replaced as it did not fit the theme of the level.
  • HeroZombie80 also used Death Moon's background decoration.

Video

File:Aeternus by me, riot, pluff, and more (Full Showcase)

Old version